This week was pretty full, as summer weeks can be.
Garden class is going really well and takes a couple of morning every week. We have a really great crew of kids, so it is super fun.
Tuesday was my birthday so, per the tradition we spent the day in Yellowstone. Dad surprised me by calling Monday evening to let me know he wanted to come celebrate with us. His company is always the best. We listened to some great tunes on the way into the park and saw some beautiful scenery. We got hit by the rain and hail Ruthie mentioned and concluded the evening with showing of The Foreigner at the Playmill theater in West Yellowstone. Just delightful to be in such a lovely place with the people I love the most! Perfect. Mom also sent a super neat gift up with dad. It is a frame containing the portraits of my maternal line for 6 generations. SO COOL! We had a pioneer day activity with the primary kids today at church and I took it to show them because I love it so much! Thanks mom!
Wednesday Ian went with a friend to volunteer at the local animal shelter which they enjoy as long as Ian remembers to take his allergy pill so the cats don't render him a drippy, sneezy mess.
Jack is back into soccer practices which he really loves and has been working on drills, dribbling, and building his endurance by distance running every day. It is neat to see him apply himself in that way and I think it really helped him prepare for the Spartan he did on Saturday. Friday he had Webelos day camp and while he was there Peter and Ian invited friends to go to the zoo and then out for ice cream. It was a good day.
Thursday evening I hosted a baby shower for a friend of mine. She is due to have baby #5 on Jenn's original due date at the beginning of August and I wanted to do something to celebrate but she already has everything she needs. What to do? She reminds me of Ruth and is super practical so I thought maybe a freezer meal prep party would be helpful. We did a bunch of prep on Wednesday night and Thursday morning. The boys were awesome help in the kitchen and getting the yard looking it's best, Alex was a great shopping companion and fine tuner in the yard also, and everything went off without a hitch. We set up tables in the backyard (it was a perfect night) and broke up into teams and each team grabbed a recipe, the supplies, and the ingredients and then prepped the meal, covered it with foil, labeled it, and wrote the directions on the top. The gals who came all had a great time and we put together about a dozen freezer meals in an hour. It was a really fun party. Ian helped me put together a killer playlist that everyone loved. My friend took a picture of her freezer afterward and sent it to all of us and it was fun to see that maybe we actually did do something helpful for her. Huzzah!
The Spartan was a really fun experience and I'm really glad Ruth talked us all into it. I was glad to be useful and help watch the kids. Dad actually did more of the heavy lifting there, but it was fun to watch all the cousins play together. And even though I didn't run the 8.6 miles, my legs are still feeling all the running up and down the hills to watch the kids race, pick up lunches, gather drinks, chase littles, and try to track down the adults in the race. It was absolutely beautiful up in the mountains! And it was fun to be somewhere that we haven't been before.
Its been a beautiful summer so far!
Glad to hear that Jenn and Scott are home with the babies! That sounds so cozy and nice! We're so excited for them to start building their little family life!
Cheers!
Sunday, July 21, 2019
Nilsson News
What an adventurous week! First of all, I have to say it was a blast having the Mannings here for the 4th of July as well as mom and dad. We didn't have any plans and just sat around and visited. It was lovely!
This past week we have been in Island Park for the Nilsson family reunion. It was pretty monumental because not a single person was missing. We went to Bear World which was fun but not necessary when we discovered a huge black bear hanging around our own cabin. He had discovered a cooler that was accidentally left out and it was full of oreos, crackers, candy and lots of other goodies. We could not get him to leave and everyone was banished indoors the rest of the day. We went rafting on the river, attended a hilarious play at the Yellowstone Playhouse (highly recommend!), hiked around Yellowstone, and survived an incredible hailstorm. It was a good adventure!
We got home just in time to get up early the next morning to drive down to Snowbasin resort for the Spartan race! We picked up grandpa on the way down and met up with the Hart clan, the Bellistons and Lauren. The kids all did an awesome job running their races and conquered the obstacles. I think I should have stuck with the kids race. I was sick the whole day previous and the morning of the race. I didn't have an appetite to eat anything so this race definitely was not as great as it should have been. The first two miles went up, and up, and up. I will say the wild flowers were gorgeous and when we finally got to the top of the mountain the view was absolutely incredible! Joe, Lori and Alex left Garrett and I in the dust from the get go but it sounded like they had an awesome time. It was a pretty grueling 8.6 miles but we all conquered! So glad for everyone that did it! We missed Nick and Lauren, Elise, Thomas and of course the Flakes (they are running their own race right now). Hopefully we can get everyone on board next time! Thanks to grandpa and Elise for watching all the kiddos!
Now we are so looking forward to this day of rest. I have bruises in some pretty strange places and can barely walk, but it's all good. We can now sit back and enjoy the rest of summer!
It is really hard to tell from the photo, but the bear was BIG! He attempted to get into some of the vans and left muddy paw marks on top of the back of the vans. Don't mess with the big boys!
This past week we have been in Island Park for the Nilsson family reunion. It was pretty monumental because not a single person was missing. We went to Bear World which was fun but not necessary when we discovered a huge black bear hanging around our own cabin. He had discovered a cooler that was accidentally left out and it was full of oreos, crackers, candy and lots of other goodies. We could not get him to leave and everyone was banished indoors the rest of the day. We went rafting on the river, attended a hilarious play at the Yellowstone Playhouse (highly recommend!), hiked around Yellowstone, and survived an incredible hailstorm. It was a good adventure!
We got home just in time to get up early the next morning to drive down to Snowbasin resort for the Spartan race! We picked up grandpa on the way down and met up with the Hart clan, the Bellistons and Lauren. The kids all did an awesome job running their races and conquered the obstacles. I think I should have stuck with the kids race. I was sick the whole day previous and the morning of the race. I didn't have an appetite to eat anything so this race definitely was not as great as it should have been. The first two miles went up, and up, and up. I will say the wild flowers were gorgeous and when we finally got to the top of the mountain the view was absolutely incredible! Joe, Lori and Alex left Garrett and I in the dust from the get go but it sounded like they had an awesome time. It was a pretty grueling 8.6 miles but we all conquered! So glad for everyone that did it! We missed Nick and Lauren, Elise, Thomas and of course the Flakes (they are running their own race right now). Hopefully we can get everyone on board next time! Thanks to grandpa and Elise for watching all the kiddos!
Now we are so looking forward to this day of rest. I have bruises in some pretty strange places and can barely walk, but it's all good. We can now sit back and enjoy the rest of summer!
At Old Faithful
Floating around the lake
It was so cold the day we were at the lake, that blankets were a necessity.
Go Spartans!
Sunday, July 14, 2019
Manning Moments
It has been a long while since I posted but I have been reading all your lovely posts.
Things have been jolly around here so I will give a rundown of some highlights lately. Wesley started gymnastics about a month ago and all we hear now is, "watch this trick!" He still loves sports and helping in the garden. We went to the Hill Airforce base museum and he absolutely loved it! Dad was able to come with us providentially and it made the trip 100 times better! He is a great personal tour guide. Nick and I have been thrilled that our various activities have helped Wes overcome some fears. We had a faculty swim party and Wesley got in the water! We also went to Idaho Falls for the fourth and got to see the Nilssons lovely farm. While there, Wesley petted the donkeys and goats, jumped on a big tramp, watched fireworks and swung; all massive fears. Chet is the opposite. I have to keep him from jumping off the tramp and the bed and climbing on everything and eating everything. He has learned how to walk and he loves to wrestle Wessle. He also has an epic scream and knows how to use it to his advantage.
Nick has been doing various fun things with his faculty. He went to mountain meadows for a day and the Cedar City temple. They are great people to work with. He also read parts of the Child Whisperer and was blown away how everything about Type 1 was him! Haha.
The garden is growing well and we have harvested peas, broccoli, and basil. I love this time of year! I also chopped off my hair. My ponytails was staying in and it was giving me a headache so that has been a fun change.
Love you all and can't wait for news from Snowflake!
Things have been jolly around here so I will give a rundown of some highlights lately. Wesley started gymnastics about a month ago and all we hear now is, "watch this trick!" He still loves sports and helping in the garden. We went to the Hill Airforce base museum and he absolutely loved it! Dad was able to come with us providentially and it made the trip 100 times better! He is a great personal tour guide. Nick and I have been thrilled that our various activities have helped Wes overcome some fears. We had a faculty swim party and Wesley got in the water! We also went to Idaho Falls for the fourth and got to see the Nilssons lovely farm. While there, Wesley petted the donkeys and goats, jumped on a big tramp, watched fireworks and swung; all massive fears. Chet is the opposite. I have to keep him from jumping off the tramp and the bed and climbing on everything and eating everything. He has learned how to walk and he loves to wrestle Wessle. He also has an epic scream and knows how to use it to his advantage.
Nick has been doing various fun things with his faculty. He went to mountain meadows for a day and the Cedar City temple. They are great people to work with. He also read parts of the Child Whisperer and was blown away how everything about Type 1 was him! Haha.
The garden is growing well and we have harvested peas, broccoli, and basil. I love this time of year! I also chopped off my hair. My ponytails was staying in and it was giving me a headache so that has been a fun change.
Love you all and can't wait for news from Snowflake!
Sunday, July 7, 2019
Hart Happenings
It has been a CRAZY week! We had Alex's family here from California, Utah, and Idaho for the 4th. It was super fun! They started coming Monday and just left on Saturday, so it was fun to visit, play games such as: 9 square in the air (witch Alex's brother in-law made), board games, volleyball (Alex's dad made a volleyball court in the backyard so we've been using that a lot), ultimate Frisbee, and lots of other games, even a spur-of-the-moment water fight! We rented a bouncy house which the kids played in non-stop! The boys made snow cones for everyone witch were delicious. On Thursday Ian, two of his cousins and his aunt ran the FIRECRACKER 5-K which he completed and is very proud of. Afterward, we went to the parade and later that night we went and saw the fireworks which were so beautiful! It was a great week-long celebration. And now it is quiet and boring according to my boys. Peter slept until 10:00 on Saturday morning and then took a two hour nap around 2:00 and still fell asleep by 9:30 last night. I think we were all pretty exhausted.
Friday morning we snuck out to Ruth's house to see Lauren and Nick and their cute boys which was a treat! Lauren said that Wesley had overcome some of his major fears while there, so congratulations! Glad to have any opportunity to see those guys.
Funny story for you: A friend and I went up to BYU-Idaho a couple weekends ago for a horticulture conference. Every time I'm up there I feel just like one of the students and figure that I blend in pretty seamlessly. As part of the conference, we attended a drip irrigation class and later had lunch with the instructor who was a professor on campus. My friend confessed that she had considered going back to school but wasn't sure what to study. The professor piped up: "Oh, you totally should. I love having non-traditional students in my class." I looked at my friend and we both burst out laughing. I guess that is what they call us "older" students, and it shattered my perception that I was blending in seamlessly with the other students. I'm still chuckling about that.
We've been up to Mesa Falls where we almost got eaten alive by mosquitos but enjoyed the lovely view anyway, braved the insects for a quick picnic dinner, and then fled back home to roast marshmallows in our pest-free backyard with the Nilssons.
Education Week is coming up again August 1-3. We're getting excited for that. Jack wants stay in the Planetarium all day and go to all the presentations there, especially the ones about Black Holes and the Exploding Universe.
Garden class is going well, the boys are loving their ultimate frisbee league, and summer seems to have arrived in earnest. Hooray! Harvesting lettuce, cilantro, and peas from the garden, which boosts my spirits no end.
Hope things are happy and prosperous with all of you!
Friday morning we snuck out to Ruth's house to see Lauren and Nick and their cute boys which was a treat! Lauren said that Wesley had overcome some of his major fears while there, so congratulations! Glad to have any opportunity to see those guys.
Funny story for you: A friend and I went up to BYU-Idaho a couple weekends ago for a horticulture conference. Every time I'm up there I feel just like one of the students and figure that I blend in pretty seamlessly. As part of the conference, we attended a drip irrigation class and later had lunch with the instructor who was a professor on campus. My friend confessed that she had considered going back to school but wasn't sure what to study. The professor piped up: "Oh, you totally should. I love having non-traditional students in my class." I looked at my friend and we both burst out laughing. I guess that is what they call us "older" students, and it shattered my perception that I was blending in seamlessly with the other students. I'm still chuckling about that.
We've been up to Mesa Falls where we almost got eaten alive by mosquitos but enjoyed the lovely view anyway, braved the insects for a quick picnic dinner, and then fled back home to roast marshmallows in our pest-free backyard with the Nilssons.
Education Week is coming up again August 1-3. We're getting excited for that. Jack wants stay in the Planetarium all day and go to all the presentations there, especially the ones about Black Holes and the Exploding Universe.
Garden class is going well, the boys are loving their ultimate frisbee league, and summer seems to have arrived in earnest. Hooray! Harvesting lettuce, cilantro, and peas from the garden, which boosts my spirits no end.
Hope things are happy and prosperous with all of you!
Monday, July 1, 2019
Flake Fun
Sounds like things are quite an adventure in Smithfield! Always good to have something to keep you on your toes!
Things in Snowflake are hot! Summer has finally arrived and we are babying our garden along. The strange weather has not done good things for it so we are hoping and praying that everything actually survives and produces! We did have a small rain shower last night which was really nice. It cooled the air down.
Scott finished the shelves that he has been working on for the babies' room so we were able to get everything organized which is a nice feeling. Once I have things organized in the bathroom we'll be good to go. Thankfully there have been no signs of early labor so we are quite content to wait until closer to the due date for the excitement to begin.
Hope that you all have a terrific 4th!!
Things in Snowflake are hot! Summer has finally arrived and we are babying our garden along. The strange weather has not done good things for it so we are hoping and praying that everything actually survives and produces! We did have a small rain shower last night which was really nice. It cooled the air down.
Scott finished the shelves that he has been working on for the babies' room so we were able to get everything organized which is a nice feeling. Once I have things organized in the bathroom we'll be good to go. Thankfully there have been no signs of early labor so we are quite content to wait until closer to the due date for the excitement to begin.
Hope that you all have a terrific 4th!!
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